Loons clinch playoff berth despite loss to Lansing

LANSING -- The Great Lakes Loons clinched a playoff berth on Thursday night despite a 10-2 loss to Lansing Lugnuts.

The Lake County Captains' 12-4 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps guaranteed the Loons a playoff spot.

The Loons, 34-32 in the second half, are 2 ½ games ahead of both the West Michigan Whitecaps and the TinCaps (both 31-34) with four games remaining in the season.

Either the Whitecaps or the TinCaps will earn the final playoff spot. Those two teams face each other in a three-game series from Saturday to Monday, so even if they both win tonight, one of them will not reach 34 wins and thus will finish behind the Loons.

Lansing left little doubt in Thursday's game, scored twice in the first and second innings for an early 4-0 lead. The Lugnuts would lead 10-0 before the Loons broke through for two runs in the eighth inning to end the shutout.

Alfredo Tavarez took the loss, yielding seven hits and five runs in four innings.

Offensively, the Loons did match Lansing with 12 hits, led by Gersel Pitre, Deacon Liput, Jacob Amaya and Josh McLain with two hits apiece.

Great Lakes closes out its three-game series at Lansing with a 7:05 p.m. game tonight. The Loons then return home to Dow Diamond for a three-game series with South Bend to close out the regular season.